- Welcome to "Inspire".

We're so happy to have you here.

On this show, we're featuring women using technology in interesting and inspiring ways.

We'll be speaking with a woman who took her side hustle hobby online and turned it into a full time business.

And we'll talk with a high school math teacher who is leveraging high tech in the classroom.

Coming up next on "Inspire".

(calm music) - [Announcer] "Inspire" is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation.

And by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.

(upbeat music) - Joining us today, as we take a look into the world of high tech is Katie VanBlaricum, owner of Insect Art Online, and Cherryl Delacruz math consulting teacher at Highland Park High School.

Welcome to inspire ladies.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- So Katie, I want to start with you.

Talk about your business, and how you got started.

And then I want to bring you in Cherryl.

Talk about how you decided to get involved with your students online.

So talk with us about your business.

- My business is called Insect Art, and I sell on the platform Etsy.

My business started in 2006, when I, just kind of had a hobby and thought maybe I can sell a few extra on the side.

I didn't really expect to make it my full-time thing at any point.

After I lost my job in the construction industry in the recession of '08, I kind of was forced to see if I could make a go at it.

It took a long time, but 14 years later.

- Wow.

- It's a good business for me.

- And what exactly do you do?

- My business right now has evolved over time.

It started out where I would make a framed piece of artwork, including dead bugs, like mostly butterflies, but also other interesting things like cicadas or dragonflies.

And sell it more as a piece of art, not just a scientific display.

That got me along for several years.

And then I realized that people really wanted to get on the do-it-yourself bandwagon.

And they wanted me to prepare the insects, and then they can do the work of gluing it into the frame of their choice, and say that they made a piece.

So that's what I do today, is I prepare specimens.

I import them, and get them ready for you to glue into your own piece.

I also still do make some finished pieces of art, mostly jewelry, butterfly wings stuff, and also jewelry made out of beetles.

- [Danielle] And you brought some beautiful specimens here today I can't wait for our viewers to check out.

And Cherryl, I'm gonna bring you into the conversation.

Talk about your work over at Highland Park.

- Yes, so my students and I did a project that was actually inspired by Buck Institute's project based learning on slow the spread.

But I modified it because I wanted to also promote global awareness.

So in this project, students used a design process that help develop an app that helps slow the spread of COVID-19 in their community, and other countries.

So they analyzed data of COVID-19 cases in two different countries.

Of course, they chose the countries.

Because we wanted to compare data and preventive measures, students decided to choose one country that they thought during that time had COVID-19 under control, and another country that was still experiencing an exponential surge of COVID-19 cases.

But, of course, they had to provide mathematical evidence to support their claims.

We also brought in community members.

So we invited our district coordinator for nursing services, Ms. Lori Vawter, and our very own Dr. Dennis Cooley.

He's the senior advisor to this Shawnee County Health Officer, and the COVID-19 response team.

And we learned a lot from them.

Really students developed an app that integrates their understanding of public health, and the math behind viral spread.

- Okay, I have to follow up on this.

I mean, the content, the subject matter is really, really interesting.

I'm gonna pull you back.

Developed an app.

I mean, those three words are like what?

It's one of those things you got on your phone.

You kind of go da da, da da da.

And you have one of those.

It's a computer program, right?

And so you're doing coding.

And ultimately the end user has, gets to enable it to do a certain task which is COVID related.

Can you explain how your students even learned that coding piece?

Is there a commercially available kit that you used?

- There are several apps out there.

There are several software development kits, which are free, and also not free.

(laughing) But my students, most of the teams used Google Suite, because that's what we use in the district, as well as Glide App.

And so we invited our tech integration specialist, Mr.

True, to talk to my class about app development and application.

And the rest was just history.

Really, it was.

They talked about just different progressive web application, and the students had an option to use either a Google Slide, a Glide App, or even an Android, or Apple SDK.

So it was, so they had a voice and choice.

- I want to compliment you on engaging your students like this.

And actually not only letting them choose that, but the country that they wanted to work with.

What was their excitement level, or learning level what they wanted to do?

- Like COVID-19 is very timely, and relevant.

I think that really motivates them to do the work.

I mean, I've seen students online still trying to do their project at nine and at 10:00 PM.

So that was really motivational.

And we really wanted, because our main goal was really to have that math project beyond our classroom.

So we didn't want it to be just another math project, but we wanted it to go beyond the classroom, and make a positive global impact.

So that was their main motivation.

- And speaking of global, these beautiful specimens here have come from around the world.

- Yes.

They come from insect farms.

Most insects are farmed in either Southeast Asia, or in South America.

So the specimens that you see here today are from those two areas.

Farmers make a sustainable living farming insects, instead of doing another method of agricultural that might actually ruin the native ecosystem where they live.

- How interesting is that?

And you said that COVID had a big impact upon your business.

Talk about that.

- Yes.

I was shocked.

I didn't think that dead bugs would be something that (laughing) people needed to buy during COVID.

But my business grew.

It was like Christmas every week.

I was just not getting that break last year that I'm used to having over the summer months.

Things usually slow down, but it's, it's still, it's still up, it hasn't gone back to what I would consider normal.

Just people, I guess, are at home a lot more, and doing hobbies and trying to learn something new at home.

I do sell kits that allow people to learn to do kind of what I do to prepare the insects.

So it sold a lot of kits.

- Prepare the insects?

Is that like a taxidermy type of thing?

I mean, they already come dead, right?

You don't have to go through that process.

So what do you do to prepare them?

- They are dead.

But they are not in the position that most people want to use in a frame.

Like for instance, you might see that beetle there in the front, and say the antenna are back and to the side, where I'd really like to show those antennas stretching way out and make a really impressive display out of that.

I'll show you how to move around the legs or antenna, how you want to position them.

Plus, most butterflies come with the wings closed.

And wings are usually, usually preferred to be seen open.

So I show you how to open the wings.

- This is fascinating.

And we're gonna be back with Katie and Cherryl more on "Inspired", you stay with us.

We continue our cyber discussion after this very short break.

Right back.

(upbeat music) - And we're back with Katie and Cherryl.

Now ladies, in our last discussions, we were talking about the apps and talking about the way you farm your insects.

I want to talk a little bit about social media.

How do you both use social media to get people's attention, or to grow your business, or to educate your students?

- What I do?

- Yeah, go ahead.

- I was gonna say social media can be really used in a more beneficial way for my students.

As a teacher, I pull with some educational resources online for my students to access.

I have a Twitter account that also other teachers can follow, and so I post several resources there as well.

I am also a member of a few learning networks that I follow.

So I myself grab some resources that I can use in my own classroom.

And those are just a few things that we can do, teachers can do in social media.

Topeka Public Schools actually has a Facebook page of teaching and learning.

And that's where we share resources, I mean teachers and staff.

And because we are working, we are heading to that goal of education in having a success for every student together.

Yeah, and I think that social media is such a great tool for students to collaborate and share resources.

- [Amy] And Katie you would use social media very differently.

- Yes, on the business end I use it to let people know when I'm getting something new in, that's usually sells quickly.

They have a heads up on that, or when I'm having a sale, things like that.

But I also use it as a little bit of a educational platform, not too different from Cherryl.

I like to really use my platform to harp on the importance of insect conservation, and what you can do at home, create a pollinator garden, or kind of just try to make insects something that's not scary, and something that people like to save.

- I've followed the basketball team at Highland Park for years, love it.

What have you learned from the students in your class?

- Well, I learn tons of things from them, from their background.

I mean, we have so much, we have different backgrounds.

I came from the Philippines, and so I share with them my cultural background as well.

And then my students, I have a very diverse group of kids.

And so I just learn different cultures, as well as, well the app, for example.

I learned a lot from what they created.

I learned the different interventions from different countries.

I mean, I didn't have that much time to look at every single country's intervention.

But that was really a way for me to get those information from the kids.

So when we do, I mean it's all about relationship building.

They open up to me, and as well as I share some things about me with them.

So we just learned from each other.

As we go through content, that's where we also dig deeper into relationship building.

- Katie, I have to ask you something, because I found out before we got on the air that you had done something prestigious that I want to share with our viewers.

Would you tell us about that?

- You're talking about the live butterfly.

- [Dainelle] Yes I am.

That's so cool to me.

- Well, I'm a docent at the Topeka Zoo.

And one thing that the Topeka Zoo does in the late summer is catch monarchs and tag them.

So I helped with some of those events.

And sometimes the kids there are also volunteering to catch butterflies, aren't very careful with those butterflies.

So there was one or two butterflies, a couple of years back, that got wing damage.

And Rachel Ross, the lady in charge of the education programs there at the zoo asked me if I could try to help her.

(laughing) She was going to just freeze them and kill them.

And I was like, well let's see if we can try something.

So I actually had done this before, a few years back.

I have a friend who manages a butterfly conservatory, and he has shown me photos in the past of some Frankensteined butterflies that they have there a the conservatory.

When one gets damaged, he'll just glue an extra wing onto it.

And they apparently lived their lives out at the conservatory so I thought I can try that on some of the monarchs that I raise that just don't hatch quite right.

So, you can actually put the butterfly into the fridge, and just get it to quiet down for a little bit.

And then real carefully find a wing that fits, and super glue it on very carefully.

(laughing) I mean, honestly it doesn't work that great.

The butterfly's not going to Mexico after this.

But it can at least have a little bit- - Of a life.

- Of a life.

Better than what it would have otherwise.

So, I shared that on my Facebook business page, and it kind of went viral, and some news outlets were selling my story.

And the Ripley's Believe It or Not put me in their book last year.

(laughing) - Props to you, girl.

Props.

- It's not something I want to do very often, because it just, it just doesn't work that well.

If it worked better, I'd do it more, but I wish it could be a better fix.

- And maybe you could create something that would be more of a better fix, epoxy.

Have her butterfly wing.

- [Katie] It needs more experimenting.

- Exactly.

(laughing) - I'm curious as how you got into insects at all.

I mean, you can see where kids are into dinosaurs, or they have their things.

But not only did you do insects, but you decide to make art out of it.

How did that transition happen?

- I just liked all kinds of natural things as a kid.

I turned my little closet into a museum of all the things that I just found around, bugs and feathers, and sticks, plants, things like that that I liked, and just kind of became something that I always had around my surroundings in my rooms and my houses.

And you can buy those things, but they're expensive.

And I thought they were boring.

I wanted to take an insect and do something with it besides put on a white background with its name below it.

So I kind of got creative, and made my own backgrounds, and had fun with doing some artsy things with the insects, instead of just making it so sciencey.

Not that, there's nothing wrong with science, but I wanted a piece of art for my wall.

So that's what I started doing.

People were just like, you should sell these.

(laughing) - That's wonderful.

And Cherryl, you're at Highland Park, but you're kind of moving around.

And great shout out to all of 501.

But the STEM program, why do you think that is so important for our youth?

- Well, I think it's very important, because that's what they love doing.

And that's very timely and relevant.

I mean, I have some students that probably play video games all the way till like, right, 11 o'clock, or 12 o'clock.

And they were so into it.

And so that's also a way to motivate them into education.

We actually have a really good comprehensive PK-12 STEM program at Topeka Public Schools.

And so we really advocate for it.

We have elementary schools that have dedicated STEM teachers that work with their students and see them every day.

We also have elementary schools, and middle schools that have a coding and a robotics competition team.

So they go out there and compete with other districts.

And then in my high school, so Highland park High School, and then Topeka High School, and Topeka West High School, along with TCALC, and College Prep Academy, they have computer science and robotics classes that teach coding, robotics, game design, 3D, oh and my favorite, flying drones.

- That's very cool.

- Yeah, so we are developing every day.

And so they have to be.

- Flying drones, and maybe flying insects for your new- (laughing) - We're very innovative.

And so we need to enhance that, and reach that right?

And 21st century skills very important.

So it's not only beneficial at the present, but as they move forward as well, when they leave high school.

- [Betty] It's exciting, yes.

- You never know.

We might have the future Bill Gates.

Right?

So, yeah, we never know.

Yes, yes.

From Topeka Public Schools.

- From Topeka Public Schools, that's so awesome.

Cherryl and Katie, thank you both for being here.

This has been a wonderful conversation.

And I love that ladies are getting it done, not only in business, but cyberspace.

What you're doing, and your passion for it, is definitely evident, so thank you for being with us.

And certainly great to hear about all the amazing things that both of them are doing to utilize the internet to enhance their education and business operations.

Coming up next, put that phone down and unplug.

Janet Thompson-Jackson helps us hit the reset button with some restorative yoga, stay with us.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Janet Thompson-Jackson, and I'm so excited to be a part of "Inspire" today.

Are you one of those people who feels like I just don't have time to work out?

I want to.

I would, if I could, but I just don't have the time.

Well, today I am going to show you some yoga moves, and just some general movement that you can do while you're sitting in your chair.

You can do this in a small space, if you don't have access to a yoga studio, or if you just don't feel comfortable going to a studio.

Let's sit down and get started.

All right.

So, imagine that you are at your computer.

You've been on yet another Zoom call, or just working on some document.

We often don't think about what that does to our hands.

So I want to start there.

Let's give our fingers and our wrists some exercise.

So I'm gonna start by taking my index finger on either hand, and just gently pulling my wrist.

And the action is in my wrist.

So I'm gonna turn to the side here so you can see that it really, I'm being very gentle with my finger.

And then I'm gonna go to my middle finger, do the same thing.

Now what I'm feeling, if you're doing this with me, you're feeling this at a slightly different spot, going up your arm, and you're really feeling that stretch.

I'm gonna take my last two fingers together, 'cause that pinky finger is kind of fragile.

Let's take that, and do a nice stretch.

And you can hold this for a few seconds.

Oh, that feels really good.

I'm feeling that last one right up this part of my arm.

And I'm just gonna move my thumb a little bit.

Your thumb doesn't really bend quite as much.

But then what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna take that same hand, make a fist.

I'm gonna grasp it with my other hand, and then bring my wrist down.

Oh, that feels great.

I'm feeling it all up in my lower arm here.

And then shake that out.

We're gonna do the same thing with the other hand, starting with the index finger, going to the middle finger.

Now, if I was doing this in a class, I would be holding it for a few seconds longer just to really get that stretch.

One arm may be a little bit more tender than the other, a little bit more sore.

Give the thumb a little bit of love.

And that's very natural.

Usually your dominant hand is, you feel it a little bit more.

And then just really shake out.

Oh, you can do this.

You can do this as you're reading something on the computer, or if you're watching a video.

Just take the time to move your hands.

It will really save this area.

The carpal tunnel problems that we have, it'll save that.

I'm Janet Thompson-Jackson, and I hope I've inspired you to replenish and restore.

(upbeat music) - Thank you, Janet Thompson-Jackson, for those helpful tips to keep us moving every day.

And ladies, technology has meant so much.

But who would have thought high school students, Highland Park, and of course 501.

But Highland Park develop that app.

That is amazing.

- So proud.

So pleased.

- And then to do your own bug business, which is cool, I mean.

- A bug business.

- And I was following up with Cherryl.

She said that us, the general public, we're gonna be able to see the information on the app.

And they are trying to get it over to India.

And the students over there are also going to be working with math, because they're just starting.

And she wants to get it to that age level.

So isn't that awesome?

- It is.

The students are so excited about it too, you know.

And students at Highland Park, because traditionally there've been challenges economically with the school district.

So to have them be a part of something that could just be so big, I'm so pleased, and so proud.

- Excellent, and I know you use apps, and technology, and so forth all the time.

- My gosh yes.

It's one of those things where you can't imagine what it was like before.

I mean, just traveling someplace, and it's like.

Somebody asked me not long ago, what did you do before you had Google Apps, before you had maps?

He said, you got a piece of paper and you're there.

Like, how did you that?

(laughing) It's amazing.

But we survived.

- [Betty] I'd didn't, but go ahead.

(laughing) - I love the fact that the students at Highland Park also selected the countries they wanted to study.

I mean, they selected India, and they selected Zimbabwe.

And these are very remote places, as far as they're concerned.

And that's something that interests them.

And the teacher was able to bring that to them.

I think that's fantastic.

And that we have the technology to provide that.

And also Vietnam, and other countries, which is just amazing.

And then to contrast that with how much testing was done in those countries, and how much testing was done here in the United States- - [Amy] COVID testing.

- Yes, COVID testing, COVID testing.

And that they chose COVID, of course that was timely.

But I'm anxious to see what they're gonna do this coming year, because there's so many other things that they could reach out and look at.

- Yeah, definitely.

Well, the delta variant has given everybody a bit of a scare, so there's plenty to do for them on the horizon, should they decide to go forward.

Which, I guess we're thinking they will.

- They can create art out of bugs.

- There you go.

(all talking at once) That there's an actual market, A, for bugs to be sold to people.

And then for Katie to put that in use.

I didn't even know it was a want, and now it's a desire for all these people on Etsy.

Who knew?

- Okay, now I have to say I'm an animal lover.

And I will say that that bothers me a bit.

I have to be transparent, because it bothers me.

But they are beautiful.

I just wish there was a way other than nature, that those things could be created, that a replica could be created.

- But think of the educational piece as well.

When they see these, you get curious.

What kind of, what is this?

And they go look it up, and find out more about the bugs.

And all that kind of education really does help in the long run.

- And think about the families who are spending quality time, especially during COVID, when she said her numbers multiplied exponentially.

The families are getting together on a project.

They don't know anything about the bugs.

Let's all get together and have some family time, putting together these pieces.

And we have a memento of something that we did during COVID.

So I get you.

- I know.

- I get you, but I'm trying to think bigger picture about all the moments.

People weren't just baking bread, and making cookies during COVID.

They actually have something that brought their families together, and they have a memento of.

- And if it's conservation, because she was talking about the migration to Mexico.

So all that, okay.

- It'll be all right.

It'll be all right, girl.

- That's all the time we have for today.

But we do hope you've been inspired by today's conversation, featuring women making moves in cyberworld.

And as a reminder, you can watch this program again at Watch.KTWU.org.

- And if you are so inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what is coming up on future shows, and get access to educational content, and additional content, be sure to check our website at www.KTWU.org/Inspire.

- Inspiring women, inspiring you, and inspiring technology all on KTWU.

Thank you for watching.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Inspire" is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation.

And by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.